One of the most taut feuds in literary history may be at an end after Sir
Salman Rushdie spoke admiringly of John le Carré’s work and said that he
regretted their exchange of invective in the letters page of a national
newspaper.

The feud began in 1997 with an argument about the merits of freedom of speech
versus the limits of religious tolerance, but swiftly degenerated into an
eloquent slanging match.

Rushdie, who was in hiding after a death threat from Ayatollah Khomeini,
called Le Carré an illiterate “pompous ass”. Le Carré, real name David
Cornwell, said Rushdie was “arrogant”